Changing back
by InsanityInside
Summary: An alternate ending to A small change. Sirius returns from The World Behind The Veil, but he is not alone…
1. Chapter 1

_Yes, this is it. The Alternate Ending of Dooooom (or the alternate ending of one fanfic I've written, actually) :) _

_If you haven't read _A small change_ this might be a little confusing. If you have, this is what it would be like if chapters 21-23 never happened. It begins sometime in summer. _

_II(: _

_Disclaimer: If it was all mine why would I post it **here**? _

**Prologue**

Fourteen-year-old Procyon Black was having a very strange dream. He was being introduced to people he already knew. Most of them, however, behaved as if they had never seen him before. Some seemed surprised or even shocked at the fact of his existence. Procyon had no idea what was going on.

'Denis! Denis, it's me!' he almost shouted as his best friend walked over to him 'Don't you know me?'

Denis Creevy raised his eyebrows.

'It's great to meet you,' he said 'but… well… no… How _could_ we meet before anyway?' he asked and that was the end of their conversation.

A moment later Neville Longbottom showed up.

'Er… pleased to meet you,' he said 'My name's Neville Longbottom.'

'Yeah, _I know!_' Procyon said. Honestly, who _didn't_ know Neville Longbottom? 'What's going on?' he asked.

Neville was confused. He generally seemed more confused than usual. And less self-assured. There was also something slightly different about his appearance, but Procyon wasn't sure what it was.

'Why are you all acting like you don't know me?' he asked 'And why are _you_ acting like you think I don't know you? Everybody knows _you_, Neville!'

'They do?' the older boy asked.

''Course they do!' Procyon replied 'You're - ' He paused. He suddenly realized what was wrong with Neville. And possibly with everybody else. 'Never mind…' he said 'Pleased to meet you too.'

This was not the same Neville Longbottom he knew. Not the hero of the wizarding world, but the shy, clumsy boy from a world where Harry Potter was the hero. From the _other _world.

Procyon had found out about the _other_ world a little more than a year ago when he met a man who claimed to be what the boy's father could have been. How exactly the man, known as Padfoot, had got here was top secret Department of Mysteries business, but Procyon was allowed to know where he had come from.

**Chapter one**

Procyon woke up to the sound of someone knocking on the bedroom door. Just as he opened his eyes the door opened as well and the boy looked up sleepily at his uncle.

'Get up, Procyon,' Uncle Reg said.

'Do I have to?' the boy whined.

'If you want to say goodbye to Padfoot before he leaves,' his uncle replied ' then yes, you do.'

'Why can't he leave a little later?' Procyon complained 'You are in charge of the whole project. You could change it…'

'It's not _that_ early, Procyon. It's eight o'clock. And we need to be at the Ministry at ten, so you'd better get dressed and come down to breakfast.'

'Oh, all right,' the boy finally agreed although he still didn't why his father's Gryffindor other self had to leave his world so early in the morning. Or why he had to leave it _at all_ for that matter.

XXX

'Hello' Procyon said, walking into the kitchen. A man who resembled the boy's father quite a lot was sitting at the table.

'Oh, you're up at last,' he said 'I was beginning to think you might forget to wake up today.'

'Where's Uncle Reg?' Procyon asked.

'Talking to someone at the Department,' Padfoot replied 'Making some special arrangements to let you come with us.'

'So I have to get up early, but I still don't know if I'll be allowed to go?' Procyon asked 'That's not fair!'

'Who told you life was fair?' said Padfoot, who, Procyon knew, had a very good reason not to believe in justice. That reminded the boy of a question he had wanted to ask for a while now.

'Why are you doing this anyway?'

'Doing what?' the man asked.

'Why are you going back there?' Procyon said 'To that other world…'

'It isn't _that other world_ for me,' Padfoot cut him off 'For me _this_ is another world.'

'_I don't get it!_' The boy nearly shouted 'You want to go back to living in hiding in a world where half of your friends are dead? _Why?_'

'I don't know… Maybe for the _other_ half of my friends? The ones who probably think _I'm_ dead… I don't know, really. It's just… the right thing to do…'

Just then Uncle Regulus returned from the fireplace in the living room.

'It's all right, Procyon,' he said 'You can come.'

'Wow.'

So he really was going to enter the Department of Mysteries! Of course, they wouldn't let him find out any more about it than it was absolutely necessary and he wouldn't ever be allowed to talk about it, but it was still quite amazing.

'Now we just have to wait for Orion and we can go.'

Procyon's older brother had found out about Padfoot and the _other_ world a few months ago. Procyon had been rather skeptical at first about letting him know too much, but apparently it had had a positive influence on the choices Orion had been forced to make recently.

XXX

After a few minutes the older boy fell out of the fireplace. He had not come here earlier because he didn't want his father to suspect anything. Procyon had decided it wouldn't do anyone any harm and spent the night at his uncle's house to avoid having to get up even earlier.

'What took you so long?' Procyon asked his brother.

'No time for this now,' Uncle Reg said before Orion could even start explaining 'We need to hurry up a bit.'

'We could Apparate,' Procyon suggested 'Er… You can take me side-along or something.'

'You're going in through the guest entrance, Procyon,' his uncle said sternly.

'All right, all right.'

XXX

And finally they left the house, dressed in Muggle clothes: Orion's a little bit mismatched, Uncle Reg's ridiculously formal, Padfoot's ridiculously _in_formal and a little old-fashioned (almost as if he hadn't noticed the last twenty years passing and thought he was still a teenage boy in the 70's) and Procyon's own slightly too small as he had grown a couple of inches since the last time he'd worn them. The four of them set off for the Ministry of Magic.

After a rather long journey through the Muggle city they finally reached the old telephone booth that was really the entrance to the Ministry.

XXX

The 'special arrangements' meant that getting into the Department of Mysteries was a very long and complicated procedure. The boys had been told (many times) not to touch anything, put under the influence of several charms to prevent them from paying attention or remembering the most secret things and finally led into the room with the Veil through a very complicated set of corridors. While all this was still happening, Procyon thought it was taking a lot too much time. However when they had reached their destination he felt as though it had all happened too fast. He didn't want to say goodbye yet. Actually, he didn't want to say goodbye at all. Over the past year the man from another world had become more like a father to Procyon than his real father had ever been (at least since the boy had got sorted into Gryffindor and become best friends with a Muggleborn). But he had always known it would have to happen at some point, so now he only wished that point was not right now.

'Well,' Padfoot said 'I guess that's it. It was really great to meet you all, but… well… goodbye.'

He was standing right in front of the Veil and Procyon, his brother and uncle and two Unspeakables had formed a half-circle around him. Then he shook uncle Reg's hand, hugged the boys goodbye and turned to face the Veil.

'I guess it's safer… you know, with my situation in my world… if I transform.' He said.

'I don't think it'll cause any problems,' an Unspeakable said and cast some sort of spell on the Veil 'It should be all right now,' he said.

The other one began to count down 'five… four… three…'. Padfoot transformed into a huge black dog. (Orion, who had never seen him do it before, gasped.) In a few seconds it would all be over. Procyon felt like crying…

'two…'

Only a second left. Procyon had once wished he could just follow his almost-father back to the _other_ world. Of course he knew he couldn't, because…

'one…'

_Because what?_ He thought. He _couldn't_ just stand here and watch! There wasn't time for thinking. In a split second he made up his mind. He leapt forward and grabbed the dog's tail just as it disappeared behind the Veil. He followed it.

'What are you doing, you idiot!' he heard his brother shout.

And then there was… nothing.


	2. Chapter 2

_Well, here's chapter two and there's going to be more soon. (Probably. Actually, knowing me, it might be tomorrow and it might be in two weeks, but whatever) I actually like the original ending quite a lot (Probably because there are lots of fics about Sirius coming back, but I don't think I've seen anything like that). If I ever write a sequel (I might do it after Book7, if it inspires me), it's probably going to follow the original ending. But I think I've got some nice ideas for this one too..._

_II(:_

**Chapter two**

For a moment he couldn't see or hear anything. This was odd. He had expected to see his life flashing in front of his eyes, but he didn't. _But Padfoot had said…_

Suddenly he understood. When you went through that thing, you saw your counterpart's memories. But they were about to enter a world where he did not _have_ a counterpart! How much trouble was he in? He should have thought about it a few seconds earlier. It was too late now!

XXX

After a few seconds Procyon found himself standing in the empty room with the Veil, still holding on to the dog's tail. The animal turned its head, let out a short growl and pulled its tail out of the boy's hand. Procyon was feeling really stupid now. The dog turned back into a man and looked down at the boy.

'What do you think you're doing?' Padfoot asked angrily.

Procyon, who had just learnt the true meaning of the words _"It just seemed like a good idea at the time"_, stared down at his own feet as if he had never seen them before.

'What were you _thinking_?' the man asked.

'It just… ' the boy hesitated 'seemed like a good idea at the time…'

'Do you _realize_ - ?'

'Yeah… I guess I wasn't thinking _at all_… I'm sorry… What do we do now?' Procyon asked.

'I guess we'd better get out of here before somebody finds us.'

'What about me?' the boy wanted to know 'Should I go with you or try to - ?'

'NO!' Padfoot wouldn't even let him finish the sentence 'You can't just go through that thing and hope you turn up in the right world,' he explained 'It's just too dangerous. Maybe we'll find a way to send you back later. For now, I guess I'm responsible for you. That's what you wanted, isn't it?' he asked.

'All right,' Procyon said 'So where do we go now?'

XXX

They agreed that the faster they get out of the building the better. A moment later Procyon learnt that Apparating actually felt rather unpleasant. He had always really wanted to try it, but when he actually got the chance, he was glad it only took a few seconds.

'What is this place?' he asked looking around. It looked familiar, but… no… it _couldn't_ be…

'Home,' said Padfoot. There was a hint of irony in his voice.

So it really was home. It felt strange to see it looking like this, especially if you had only just been there a few days ago and it had looked… well… like your home. To be honest, the house had never been the most pleasant place in the world, but now, with the peeling wallpapers and a thick layer of dust covering everything, it looked just plain creepy. It almost seemed like a haunted house. For a moment the horrifying idea of his grandmother's ghost still hanging around here crossed Procyon's mind.

'I guess noone's been there since I left,' said Padfoot, looking around 'I thought the Order would still be using it - '

'The Order's been using _this place_?' Procyon asked 'You have some nerve.'

Padfoot stared at the boy in shock.

'What?' Procyon asked 'Did I say something wrong?'

'It's not supposed to be possible,' the man whispered.

'What?' Procyon didn't understand.

'I just _told _you about the Headquarters. But… only Dumbledore can…'

'I still don't get it.'

'There was a Fidelius Charm on the place… er… last time I was here. Dumbledore was the Secret Keeper. Only he could reveal the information.'

'That means the Charm is gone?' Procyon finally understood.

'I guess it makes sense,' Padfoot said slowly 'Noone's been here for a long time. They must have found a different place.'

'Either that or we're in the wrong universe,' Procyon said, suddenly even more frightened.

'_You_ are,' Padfoot replied 'But I don't think _I_ am. The flashbacks seemed right.'

'Flashbacks?'

'Memories,' the man explained 'The ones I saw when w went through that veil.'

'I didn't see anything,' the boy said 'That's because there's no other me in this world, right?'

'That would make sense. I saw your dad's life when I went through the thing the first time and my own this time.'

'Good,' Procyon was relieved 'At least we know where we are.'

XXX

Although neither of them was overly fond of the place, they decided to look around a bit first. Right now, half an hour later, Procyon was sitting alone, staring at the tapestry with the family tree on the wall. It was quite different from the one he knew. First of all his name wasn't on it. Neither was his brother's or his sister's. (He wondered how Cassie would react if she ever heard of this.) None of them had ever been there _at all_. Where his father had been was only a small burn-mark, and a little to the right from it the name _Regulus Black_ with two dates under it instead of only one. Before seeing that Procyon had not fully realized how different this world was from his own. Now, after a few minutes of staring at it, he thought there were probably still many things he wasn't fully aware of.

'Yeah, this looks like the right world,' he suddenly heard a voice behind him 'Most things are still when I left them last year. It's almost scary.'

He turned around to see Padfoot standing there.

'Didn't hear you coming,' Procyon said and then he pointed at the tree 'I was looking at this,' he explained 'It's so different.'

'Bet it is,' Padfoot agreed 'I've never seen the other one. It's still a bit strange.' He pointed at Uncle Regulus's death-date. 'I talked to him only this morning and this thing tells me he's been dead for sixteen years.'

'Yeah. I wonder what would happen if he came here,' Procyon said trying not to think about how disturbing his own situation was 'Would he… see his own death?'

'Come on,' Padfoot said 'We can't stay here forever.'

'Where are we going?' Procyon asked standing up.

'We need to let some people know I'm back,' Padfoot told him 'And probably tell someone about you.'

They walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. Procyon noticed there was an abandoned plate on the large table with something very mouldy on it. It was impossible to tell what it had been, but apparently someone had, long ago, been eating in the kitchen. Back in his world only the House-Elves did anything at all in there. People only entered it when they needed to use the fireplace. Oh, well, this _was_ a different world.

'Noone even cleaned that up,' Padfoot noticed the plate too 'Well, I'm not doing it now.'

They headed for the fireplace, lit a fire and started to look for Floo powder.

'So where are we going?' Procyon asked.

'The Burrow,' the man finally told him.

That made sense. The Weasleys were known to support Dumbledore. Procyon wouldn't be surprised if their house had become the new headquarters.

'All right,' he said when they finally found the Floo powder 'I think you should go first. They don't know me.'

A moment later he regretted this decision. The house that had been his home only a while ago was even more frightening when he was all alone. He followed as fast as he could.


	3. Chapter 3

_As I currentlyhave a lot of free time, here's chapter three._

_II(:_

**Chapter three**

To their great surprise, the first person they saw after falling out of the fireplace in the Burrow's kitchen was not a Weasley. For a moment Procyon wasn't sure where he had seen her before. Then he remembered. It was Fleur Delacour, the pretty French girl who had been the Beauxbatons champion in the Triwizard Tournament. She noticed them too.

'What eez going on?' she asked. Then she noticed Padfoot and stared.

'What are you doing 'ere?' she asked, her voice trembling 'I thought you were dead.'

The man opened his mouth, but before he could explain anything, Fleur began to scream. Quick footsteps could be heard outside. Someone was running. Then a voice that most likely belonged to Ginny Weasley spoke from outside the door.

'What is it, Phlegm?' Ginny asked 'Seen a rat?' and she pushed the door open.

'Anything but a rat, please,' Padfoot protested.

That was when the younger girl noticed him too.

'Mum!' she called loudly 'Ron! Bill!'

Before she could finish calling all her brothers' names, Ron Weasley ran into the kitchen, followed by a young man with long red hair and some rather nasty scars on his face, who must have been the oldest Weasley brother.

'What the - ' Ron said in shock.

'Don't worry, Fleur, Ginny,' Bill was saying at the same time 'Whatever is going on here, we'll deal with it…'

'How?' Ron asked.

'How about letting us explain?' Procyon suggested.

'Yeah, and maybe you could put those wands away too?' Padfoot added.

The Weasleys refused.

'All right,' Padfoot said 'We'll put ours away first. Trust me, Procyon,' he added, since the boy was rather reluctant to do it 'I've been in situations like this before.' And he handed his wand over to Ron. Procyon gave his to Ginny and sat down on the nearest chair.

'Now tell us who you are,' said Ron, lowering his wand only a little bit.

'But you know me!' Padfoot said (Had he ran out of ideas already?).

'We know who you look like,' Ron replied 'But who _are _you?'

'Oh, honestly, don't you think if I were a Death Eater trying to disguise myself, I would pretend to be someone who _isn't_ believed to be a Death Eater?'

'Sirius was cleared last year,' Ginny pointed out.

Padfoot nearly jumped with excitement.

'I was?' he asked 'Really?' he turned to Procyon 'Did you hear that? I'm free!'

'Your act is very convincing,' said Bill 'but… it just _doesn't make sense_.'

'Maybe zat eez why we should believe 'im?' Fleur said uncertainly 'Becauz a liar would make up a better lie?'

The door opened again and Mrs. Weasley entered the room.

'What is going - ?' she began to ask, but never finished her question, because she noticed the unexpected guests 'Oh my _God_!' she exclaimed 'I don't _believe_ it!'

'We don't either, Mum,' Ron said.

'Oh come on!' Procyon was getting tired of the whole argument. 'How about an Identity Spell?' he asked 'Is it really that hard?'

'You can cheat those,' Bill informed him.

'Oh dear…' Mrs. Weasley said worriedly 'Maybe if we could think of a question to ask…'

'A question?' Padfoot didn't understand.

'Something only the real Sirius could - '

Suddenly something in Procyon's mind went _click!_

'That's it!' he exclaimed 'Is there a way to fake an Animagus transformation?' he asked. Bill opened his mouth 'Without a wand,' Procyon added quickly.

'Oh, how could I be so stupid!' Padfoot said 'Watch this.'

As he turned into a huge black dog, the four Weasleys and Fleur stared at him in disbelief.

Ron swore and his mother didn't even tell him off.

'Oh dear,' she said instead 'How did you…? How is it possible? We all thought you were dead!'

Padfoot transformed back.

'I thought so too,' he said 'But then Regulus told me I wasn't.'

'What do you mean - ?'

'And who is the boy?'

The second question seemed more urgent, but both could be answered with 'Long story'.

XXX

Mr. Weasley had finally come back from work, Fred and George had been called and asked to come to the Burrow immediately and now the whole family was sitting in one room, listening to the story, which was indeed long and complicated.

'So you say you were transported to a different universe?' Mr. Weasley asked.

'Yeah,' Padfoot confirmed 'It took me a year to get back here. And now we have another problem, because Procyon should be sent back home.'

'How did you get back here?' Ron asked.

'More or less the same way I left. But I don't really know _how_ it works. Reg didn't tell me any _details_.'

'_Who_?' asked one of the twins (Procyon couldn't really tell them apart).

'My brother,' Padfoot said simply.

'Hang on,' the other twin still didn't seem to understand 'Regulus?' he asked 'The Death Eater?'

Procyon didn't know what to think of this. It felt really odd to hear something like that said about his favorite uncle. The fact that it happened to be true in this universe made it even more disturbing.

'We're talking about a very different world, George' Padfoot reminded 'He's on our side there.'

'What's it like in that other world then?' Ron asked.

'It's not that bad once you get used to it,' Padfoot replied 'Well, except for my other self. I don't like him very much.'

He began to explain about the _other_ Sirius Black, who had been in Slytherin and grown up to be just another member of his family.

'Some people even think he might be a Death Eater, but, that's unlikely, really. His son would know if he was…'

'He supports them, sort of,' Procyon said 'But I don't think he's actually - '

'That's impossible!' Ron interrupted him. He was clearly finding Procyon's world just as strange as this one seemed to Procyon 'I mean, this guy is _you_, Sirius! We all know you would never - '

'You didn't seem so sure of it three years ago,' Padfoot teased.

'Well, three years ago I didn't know you and you had just broken my leg and dragged me into the Shrieking Shack,' Ron replied 'I think I had a reason to be a little angry.'

'How many times do I have to apologize?' Padfoot said 'And, really, you don't know how much one detail can change. We think the actual change was sorting me into a different house, but then it turns out Lily and James are alive, Peter never betrayed us and Neville Longbottom is the Boy Who Lived.'

Ron burst out laughing.

'Neville?' he repeated 'Neville Longbottom is the Chosen One? I can't believe it!'

'It's not nice, Ron,' Ginny told him 'What's wrong with Neville anyway?'

'You mean, apart from being _Neville_?' asked one of the twins.

'Never mind,' said Padfoot 'Would you tell me what's been happening here when I was away?'

Procyon listened carefully as the Weasleys began to tell the story. He had to learn as much as he could about this strange new world, as he had no idea how long he was going to have to stay here.


	4. Chapter 4

_I'm back! Oh, and I've decided to add some different points of view. Maybe I should have started that earlier, but... well... it just seemed right to write all of that from Procyon's POV._

II(:

**Chapter four**

On July 31st Harry Potter got up very early. He had just turned seventeen that night and was getting ready for the most special birthday of his life. This was not because he had just (by British wizards' standards) come of age, or at least that was not the direct cause. No, this day was special because Harry was just about to leave his Aunt and Uncle's house and, if he was lucky, wouldn't ever have to return. It was the best birthday present he could imagine. He wasn't quite sure where he was going to go (he had recently inherited a house, but was no more willing to go there than to stay here with his horrible relatives forever). For now he was going to his best friend's house, where he could stay for some time.

He walked downstairs and left a letter for his family on the kitchen table. In the letter he said goodbye to them and thanked 'for everything', not because he had much to thank for, but because it just seemed right to be polite to them for once on an occasion like this. Having done that, Harry returned to his bedroom, opened the window, mounted his broom and carefully flew out. It was quite difficult, with all the luggage attached to his broomstick, but he made it. He landed on the roof and threw his Invisibility Cloak over himself and his broom.

He took off again. As he left the town of Little Whinging behind, ready to begin a new, Dursley-free life, he thought this was a very special day indeed.

And he wasn't even aware of the surprise that awaited him at the Burrow.

XXX

The house seemed to have been built against the laws of physics. You could almost expect it to be bigger on the inside than outside. It was one of the most magical places Harry had ever been to. Seeing it again after a month of living with people who thought being boring was something to be proud of felt really amazing. He landed in the backyard and took off his Invisibility Cloak. A few meters away from him several people with red hair were flying around on broomsticks and throwing a red Quaffle to each other. One of them noticed Harry as soon as he became visible again.

'Hey, Harry!' ha called 'Wanna play with us?'

'I'm too tired, Ron,' Harry shouted back 'I've already spent half a day flying.'

Ron landed and a moment later so did his brothers and sister, and, Harry suddenly noticed, a dark-haired boy he had never seen before.

'You won't believe what happened a few days ago!' Ron said.

'Well then, _what_ happened?' Harry asked. He had seen many unbelievable things before and his best friend knew about it. What could possibly be so incredible that Ron thought Harry wouldn't believe it.

'Why don't you come in and see for yourself?' Ron suggested 'There's someone waiting for you inside.'

Harry and Ron headed for the door, followed by the boy Harry didn't know. _Who was he anyway? What was he doing at the Burrow? Did he have anything to do with whatever had happened a few days ago and whoever was waiting for him inside? Why was there something familiar about him?_

When they entered the house, Harry saw someone he had certainly not been expecting to meet.

'I don't believe it!' he whispered.

XXX

The Order organized a meeting that evening and, although they weren't officially members, Harry and Procyon were both invited to attend the first part of the meeting. This was yet another thing they younger boy had been dreaming of for a while now. But he was not as excited as he thought he would be. He was, in fact, quite worried. A few things he had been dreaming of had already happened to him over the last few days and they had not really been what he'd imagined.

'You know why you are here, don't you?' asked Professor McGonagall, who had apparently taken over after Professor Dumbledore's death (Procyon still couldn't believe that. It was almost as if he had believed the old headmaster to be immortal).

'I think so, Professor,' he replied.

XXX

As soon as everybody got over the initial shock of finding out that Sirius had survived falling through the Veil and returned home along with a guest from another world (which, obviously, took a while), they proceeded to trying to decide _what to do about it_. Some people suggested that keeping it secret could give the Order some advantages, but finally they decided against it, especially since Sirius refused to pretend to be dead any longer than it was absolutely necessary.

'I've had enough of hiding,' he said 'And now that the Ministry's _finally_ admitted I'm innocent, I thought I could have a life at last…'

'All right then,' someone said 'I guess you can just go to the Ministry and - '

That left only one question.

'What department _does_ one go to anyway, when one's supposed to be dead, but isn't and wants to explain that someone's made a mistake?'

Another problem was how to Procyon back to his world and what to do with him in the meantime.

'I suppose we can just leave it to the Department of Mysteries,' said Arthur Weasley 'With some help from Sirius they should be able to do it.'

'How much do you know about the Veil?'

This wasn't an easy question. Sirius probably knew more about it than anybody else in this world. He knew what it really was, what it felt like to go through it and what you could find on the other side. However, he had no idea whatsoever, _how_ to use it or how it worked. He explained it to the others.

'So I'm afraid it's still going to take a lot of time,' he said.

'What shall we do with you while you are here?' McGonagall asked, looking at Procyon.

'Er…' the boy muttered 'When Padfoot was in my world, he just… tried to live a normal life… erm… under a false name, of course…'

'That's it,' Hogwarts' new headmistress said 'If you are still here by the time the new term begins, you will go to school here. You have one month to come up with a good explanation why you are beginning with… fourth year, I believe?'

'Yes, Professor,' the boy agreed, looking rather embarrassed. He seemed to be aware by now, that what he had done was incredibly foolish.

After Procyon left it was Harry's turn to speak up. Sirius had already heard the theory about Voldemort creating several Horcruxes. Harry confirmed it now.

'Dumbledore believed there were six,' he said 'Two have been destroyed. Most of the others are probably things that used to belong to the Founders.'

'Do you think you know what _exactly_ they might be?'

'Two of them, yes,' Harry said 'One is most likely Hufflepuff's cup, and the other's Slytherin's locket. Dumbledore found the place where Voldemort hid it,' he added after a pause 'But it wasn't there when we got there. Someone must have got there before us.'

'But who?'

'That's the problem. I have no idea,' Harry replied 'They left a message, though.' He cleared his throat and began to recite a text he seemed to have memorized. _'"__To the Dark Lord. I know I will be dead long before you read this but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match, you will be mortal once more. R.A.B.". _Any ideas who it could have been?'

Sirius did have an idea. But could this really be true? Over the last year ha had found out things about his brother he had never been quite aware of before, even if the Regulus from the other world was not the same person as the one here. Words from the letter Regulus had written to him before his death echoed in Sirius's head: _"__Nothing can make me more scared than I already am, so I can do anything now."_ Could _anything_ possibly be _that_?


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter five**

Nothing. Silence. Nobody knew anything that could help him. This meeting had been Harry's only hope, and now this only hope was gone. And then…

'Can you repeat those initials, Harry?' Sirius said suddenly.

Harry, who still couldn't believe his godfather had returned from what he had until this day believed to be the afterlife, stared at him distractedly for a moment before he spoke.

'Sure,' he said 'R. A. B.' Did Sirius know something? Had he learnt something… wherever he had been for the last year? 'Do you think - ?'

But Sirius didn't seem to hear him anymore.

'Regulus Arcturus Black…' he said slowly 'If only _he_ could know…'

XXX

Far away, farther than you could imagine, although in some sense also quite near, in the Ministry cafeteria, two employees of the Department of Mysteries were discussing things they shouldn't really be discussing in public, but noone who hadn't actually been inside the Department could understand anything from their conversation anyway.

'Are you seriously considering going in there yourself?' one of the men asked.

'I wouldn't if there was another way. But there _isn't_,' his companion replied.

'But isn't it dangerous?'

'Who said I'm not afraid? But I'm responsible for him. I failed to stop him, so now I should go there and try to undo the damage.'

XXX

'All right,' he tried again 'I used to go to Be- Bu- Bo- How do you pronounce the name anyway? That school in France…'

'Beauxbatons,' Fleur supplied, giggling 'But I don't theenk it will work…'

'Yeah,' Ron added 'If you tell them you went to Be-Bu-Bo, they'll think it's somewhere in Africa rather than France.'

Fleur, Harry, a few Weasleys and even Procyon himself laughed.

'All right, all right,' Procyon said 'How about this: I moved here from America, because… er…' Making up a good explanation was harder than he had expected.

The door opened and Padfoot entered the room.

'We should get going now,' he announced.

XXX

It was just another boring day. The most exciting thing the rather unimportant Ministry official was expecting today was spilling his coffee all over his papers and having to do all the work again. How very wrong he was. The truth was he might not have time to make himself a cup of coffee at all. He wasn't really paying attention to the whispered conversation outside the door. It was none of his business, that someone was saying 'What am I supposed to tell them anyway?'.

There was a knock on the door. Quite a normal, boring knock, really, but then many unusual things begin with something normal and boring.

'Come in.'

They did. 'They' turned out to be a man about forty years old and a boy who could easily be his son, except that it was a well-known fact that Sirius Black couldn't _possibly_ have a fourteen-year-old child (Well… unless some completely _insane_ woman had somehow got into Azkaban just to… no! That _really _didn't make sense!). Then again, Black being here _at all_ didn't make sense either. Another well-known fact was that he had died a little more than a year ago in a duel with his cousin Bellatrix Lestrange. And yet there he was, standing right in front of him, awkwardly saying 'Excuse me…?'. Dead people _really_ shouldn't be doing things like that!

XXX

After a few hours of paperwork and arguing with Ministry beurocrats, Sirius almost missed being on the run. It had given him a very good reason to avoid the Ministry. Coming back to life (officially at least) turned out to be incredibly exhausting. Finally he was allowed to leave. He and Procyon headed for the nearest fireplace and traveled to the Burrow.

And it was not over yet. Before he could get on with his life, Sirius would still have to pay a visit to st. Mungo's and go through some medical tests. The Ministry, of course, was mostly concerned about his _mental_ health. He had to admit it made sense, but it was still kind of annoying when the ministry official explained it to him, speaking slowly, as if not sure he will understand. _"It's only reasonable, Mr. Black, that after everything you've been through…". Yeah, right,_ he thought,_ and everything I'm going through right now…_

XXX

Procyon was actually quite relieved to hear that some people in the Department of Mysteries were going to start working on his case immediately. The sooner they start, the sooner he would be able to return to his world.

It wasn't that this one was really bad. He was currently living at the Burrow along with the Weasleys, Harry, Fleur and Padfoot (He didn't ever want to go back to Grimmauld Place. He said he was going to look for a new house 'as soon as this was sorted out'.) and enjoying it quite a lot, but still couldn't help feeling a little out of place. _Is this how Padfoot felt all this time in my world?_ He would ask himself. If it was, now he understood why his father's other self had been so eager to come back here, despite everything. This universe wasn't worse than the one he had come from. It just… wasn't home.

It wasn't bad. Not for someone who belonged here. But the guest from another world couldn't help noticing that it's so different. Of course, he tried not to think about all the differences, but it was rather difficult when everybody around him seemed to have, for some strange reason, started talking about the man who could have been his uncle.

XXX

News travels fast in the wizarding world. By the time Sirius decided to show up in Diagon Alley, everybody seemed to know about his unexpected return. As he and Procyon walked down the street, people were pointing at them and whispering. Apparently, despite their wish to keep Procyon's story quiet, there were also some rumors about the guest from another world.

'So much for secrets,' Procyon commented 'By the time the term starts I won't need that story about the foreign school and everything.'

'Well, that'll make things easier, won't it?' Sirius said. He had spent the last year pretending to be someone else so as not to draw attention to himself. He knew it was not easy.

'I dunno,' Procyon replied 'If they keep staring at me like this - '

'Oh, stop whining,' Sirius told him 'Better staring than running away screaming. Trust me on that.'

But by the time their trip was over he was quite tired of it as well.

XXX

He wasn't really supposed to do this. But he had to. Other people had told him not to, but sometimes there were more important things than what you were told. His own common sense was telling him right now that he was probably going to regret this very soon, but, after this crazy year he was beginning to think common sense might not always be right. So what if this was crazy, dangerous, forbidden and unlikely to work anyway? It had to be done. Very slowly, he took another step forward and disappeared. Images that were familiar but not quite right flashed in front of his eyes.


	6. Chapter 6

_So much for updating regularly. And you might have to wait even longer for the next chapter, since I'm going on holiday in a couple of days. I was hoping to finish before leaving, but I'm afraid I won't make it. Whatever. See you next month or something…_

_II(:_

**Chapter six**

There was a flash of green light and the world disappeared. There was nothing. Not black or white, just… blank. Not exactly silence, but the absence of sound. He had wondered before what it felt like not to feel anything. Now he knew and wished he'd never found out. Luckily it didn't take more than a second. It was such a relief to feel the solid floor under his feet, to see something again, even if it was only darkness, to hear… _Oh no!_ he thought _Someone's coming!_

XXX

Remus Lupin visited the Burrow quite often these days. This time Harry decided to ask him what he thought about the thing that had been bothering him for a while now. He was, however, rather disappointed with the answer he got.

'What makes you think I can figure it out?' Lupin asked 'I know as much as you do, Harry.'

'Yeah, but I didn't know _him_,' Harry insisted. He believed it was a really huge difference. Even though there wasn't really any new evidence other than the younger Black brother's middle name, Harry's way of thinking about him had changed completely. Regulus Black had been merely some half-forgotten person, who had died before Harry was born. Regulus Arcturus Black was a mystery that needed to be solved.

'I didn't know him very well either,' Lupin explained patiently 'We've met at Hogwarts, but we weren't in the same year or the same house. If he wasn't Sirius's brother, I probably wouldn't have noticed him at all.'

'I know his other self,' Procyon said helpfully 'But it sounds like they might be quite different.' He thought for a moment 'And anyway, I have no idea where he could hide something like _that_.'

'Maybe when Sirius comes back he can help us,' Lupin said 'I'm sure he's been thinking about it a lot.'

'Yeah,' Procyon added 'whenever he didn't have to deal with ministry people, healers and reporters…'

XXX

Only a moment later Sirius stormed into the room, looking rather angry.

'I've had enough!' he announced.

'What this time?' Remus asked calmly. Things like that happened almost every day since his best friend had decided to 'officially come back to life'. It was, apparently, a very tiring and complicated process. Remus was, of course, very happy to have his friend back. He had missed him a lot. Everything about him, including even his horrible temper. But he did wish _this_ was over.

'Healers,' Sirius said 'I hate bloody healers.'

Bill Weasley had just poked his head into the room to see what was going on.

'I know what you mean,' he said 'I went to st. Mungo's about those bites,' he pointed at a particularly nasty-looking scar on his face 'They still can't make up their minds whether I am a werewolf or not.'

'Well, there hasn't been a case like yours in many years,' Remus pointed out.

'Yeah,' Bill admitted 'But still you'd think the fact that I don't transform or feel the urge to bite anyone or whatever _might_ be a bit of a hint…'

'I've been wondering if they're _always_ so dumb,' Sirius commented.

'Only in special circumstances,' Remus assured him.

Sirius collapsed into an empty chair with a sigh.

'Sometimes I wish I was still hiding,' he said 'I wouldn't have to deal with _them_ at least.'

'It's worth it, Padfoot,' Remus assured. He had to repeat it almost every day since the whole thing had began. 'When it's over at last - '

'I'll be glad it's finally over,' Sirius finished 'Yeah, I know…'

'What happened this time anyway?' Harry asked.

'Half a day in st. Mungo's,' Sirius replied 'Isn't that bad enough? Oh, all right. Th physical tests weren't _that_ bad. They just went on and on for _ages_. And _then_ they started the mental ones…'

'What did they say then?' Remus asked 'Anger management problems?'

'Well, wouldn't you be angry? And do they _always_ act like this?' Sirius asked.

'Like what?'

'Like they think I'm either retarded or about to go berserk on them?'

At this particular moment the second option did not seem unlikely at all. Remus, however, remained calm.

'Oh that,' he said 'I'm afraid they do.'

He had recently encountered some of those, due to a new ridiculous law regarding werewolves. He had to agree it wasn't pleasant.

XXX

When Tonks entered the room, she seemed rather excited. She said hello to everyone and kissed Remus on the cheek (Sirius had already known she had a thing for him - Or was it the _other _her? The whole thing with alternate universes was very confusing – but the idea of the two of them _together _was still new to him). Then she looked around again and noticed him.

'Sirius!' Tonks exclaimed 'I was hoping to find you here. I need to tell you something.'

Sirius looked at her curiously.

'What's the matter?' he asked.

'Well,' she began 'I was on guard duty at the Ministry holding cells,' she said 'and I met someone there…' she hesitated, not sure where to begin 'They told me they found him inside the Department of Mysteries. And they have no idea how he got in there. Seems very interested in your case. And Procyon's. Mostly his, in fact.'

Everyone in the room was now staring at the young auror, eager to hear more. Who had broken into the Department of Mysteries? What could he possibly want?

'Who was it?' Procyon asked excitedly. You'd think he's had enough adventures for a while, but apparently being stuck in an alternate world where he had never been born was not enough for him.

'That's the really strange part,' Tonks replied 'Nobody knows. Won't tell anybody who he is. Says we wouldn't believe him anyway. He just doesn't want to say _anything_ about himself. And he keeps asking a lot of questions.'

'What kind of questions?'

'I hope you didn't tell him anything?'

'Nothing he couldn't find in the papers,' she replied 'And that's another thing,' she added 'He asks about things most people already know, like - '

'Hang on,' Sirius interrupted 'Some guy broke into the _Department of Mysteries_ to find out things he could have just read in the papers?'

'Well, not only,' Tonks admitted 'But he _has_ asked me if Procyon really has come here with you.'

'Well, the press is wrong sometimes,' he pointed out.

'And nobody knows who he is?' Remus tried to make sure one more time.

'Not really,' Tonks replied 'Although he recognized me. Think that might be a hint?'

Sirius was about to point out that for someone who looked different everyday Tonks was quite easy to recognize, but she kept talking.

'And I was looking the way I do right now,' she said. And she looked rather average today, with her hair, quite unusually for her, shoulder-length and blonde. 'It was like he _knew_ me!' she said 'But I've never seen him before. And he wants to see you for some reason,' she said to Sirius and Procyon.


	7. Chapter 7

_I'm back! I've had a really fun vacation (Which, of course, involved getting lost in the mountains with a messed up map and sleeping in the forest, and changing my plans so much I might as well not have had any in the first place. And now I've been back home for three days and I'm already begining to get bored. I guess I've got something in common with Procyon, heheh, well, it's easier to write about a character you understand :P )._

_Ahem... Anyway: here's Chpter7 !_

_II(:_

**Chapter seven**

The mysterious prisoner was sitting on the narrow bed in his cell, thinking. His situation at the moment seemed rather hopeless. he had come here on an important mission, which he had to complete as fast as possible. And now he was stuck here and didn't know if it would ever be possible _at all_. He considered all his options and couldn't see any way out of here. Well, except maybe to st. Mungo's mental ward if he tried to tell anyone who he was, where he had come from and why. He considered that. Running away from the hospital might be easier than running away from here. Then again it might not be and then he would have to put up with all the annoying healers in addition to being stuck. And what if they thought he was lying? Or didn't listen to anything else he said as soon as they'd heard his name? There were so many things that could go wrong. Sure, there a few ways out of here, but all of them led to places that made this look comfortable in comparison. Still, he was determined to keep trying to think of something better. He stared absent-mindedly at the wall in front of him, lost in thought until suddenly he heard a voice calling his name.

XXX

In the beginning Tonks and Sirius had refused to let Procyon come along. It could turn out to be dangerous, and therefore not the right place for a fourteen-year-old boy who thought getting into trouble was fun. Finally, however, he persuaded them to take him with them.

'It's about me too,' he had said 'You can't say it's none of my business or anything!'

He was told to stay calm, not touch anything, let the grown-ups deal with everything, behave himself and try not to get into any more trouble than was absolutely necessary. He was still allowed more than he should have been allowed, especially since it was obvious that he was going to break _some_ of the rules. After all the last time he had been told not to touch anything, he had followed Sirius through that veil and caused a lot of trouble. And right now, as the three of them were reaching their destination, the boy was becoming dangerously excited.

'We're nearly there,' the young auror said. She could already see the strange man sitting on the bed in his cell at the far end of the corridor. She was actually quite relieved: they were almost there and nothing had happened. If only they could talk to him without Procyon saying or doing something stupid…

But all of a sudden the boy started running down the corridor. Before anyone could react he threw himself at the bars of the mysterious prisoner's cell, shouting something. Sirius rushed after him quickly and Tonks followed him half a second later.

'Reg?' Sirius was saying, staring at the other man in disbelief 'It's really you?'

Tonks was even more shocked than her cousin. Not only was Regulus Black supposed to be dead, but the two brothers had never really been that close… or at least she couldn't remember it… Then again there was the whole thing with the message in the fake Horcrux… Never mind. It still made no sense.

'What are you doing here?' Procyon asked the man excitedly.

'Not much at the moment,' he replied 'I meant to - '

'Hang on,' Tonks interrupted, slowly beginning to understand what might be going on here 'Are you from the _other_ world?' she asked, but the others seemed too busy to notice.

' – find you and make sure everyone is in the world they belong in. And then I ended up getting stuck _here_.'

'Well, it's good to see you again,' Sirius said 'Even though you look horrible.'

The other man – Regulus, she was probably going have to get used to that – did look rather as if he hadn't slept or eaten much in the last few days.

'That's a little better than I feel,' he said.

Sirius looked into the cell.

'Believe me,' he said 'There are worse places than this.' Everyone knew what he was referring to.

'You might have relieved the worst moments of your _life_ over and over again,' Regulus told him 'But you've never had to live through your own _death_. Nobody does… normaly. I've just discovered another reason why that _thing_ should never be used. Ever,' he declared.

'So I was right!' Procyon exclaimed 'I knew it! So what happened - ?' he began to ask.

'What? How did I die? The Death Eaters' favorite spell,' he informed him.

'No, I mean… _after_…'

_That kid is way too curious! _And Regulus looked rather annoyed.

'Look, I don't feel like talking about it at the moment,' he said 'I have enough other problems without it.'

'We'll get you out of here,' Sirius assured him 'I don't know how, but we will.'

'You know,' Tonks said thoughtfully 'Telling the truth just might work.'

This time she was not ignored.

'I've had enough time to think about it,' Reg replied 'And I _don't_ think so.'

'Oh, I don't know,' Sirius said 'They've heard some unbelievable stories recently. And they believed them. Even if it _did_ take a lot of paperwork.'

'They know about our world,' Procyon reminded them 'They might as well believe you came from there.'

'Well, I suppose if you confirm it they might,' Regulus finally agreed 'Now, there is one more thing we need to talk about immediately,' he said.

He looked around nervously and then turned to Tonks.

'Do you think someone might be listening?' he asked.

'No, not really,' the girl replied.. Since the people in charge only allowed people to come here in the presence of an auror, she had already made sure _she_ was supposed to be the one 'listening'. And she didn't have to repeat _everything _she heard.

'So, what is it you wanted to tell us?' Procyon asked.

'I'm not sure _you_ should be allowed to hear it, but - '

'Oh, come on, Uncle Reg, I _can_ keep a secret!'

'Oh, all right then,' the man sighed. Then he looked around again and began to explain, in a whisper just in case someone was listening after all 'You know that when you go through the Veil, you see bits of your counterparts life.'

Sirius nodded. Procyon muttered something about not _having_ a counterpart.

'And I saw mine,' Reg continued 'And I saw my death. And I saw the reason _why_ I died…'

And he began to tell his story. The others listened, staring at him, careful not to breathe or blink too much as though they could miss something if they did.


	8. Chapter 8

_I'm back :)_

**Chapter eight**

Procyon listened carefully to the story. Uncle Regulus was trying to stay calm while telling it, but _'I've just seen the life of my Death Eater other self'_ is hardly a topic for a casual conversation.

'I don't think I've seen everything, and I don't remember everything I've seen,' he said 'It's kind of like a dream, except it's real… But I can tell you one thing for sure,' he made a dramatic pause here 'Dumbledore was right about the Horcruxes.'

Procyon had no idea what Horcruxes were, not to mention what Dumbledore had said about them, but he knew better than to ask. All he could find out by asking was that it was not something fourteen-year-old children should know about.

'Of course he was,' Tonks commented 'When was he ever wrong?'

'How about when the greasy git showed him the green light?' Padfoot muttered darkly 'If I ever get my hands on that bastard…'

Procyon cautiously took a step away from him hoping the subject would change quickly. There was one thing about this otherwise fairly nice man that scared the hell out of the boy: his ability to hate.

'What?' Uncle Reg asked in shock.

'Yeah, Dumbledore's dead,' Padfoot said 'I can't get used to it either. Leave this world alone for _one year_ and when you're back …'

'So what did you see?' Tonks asked.

'Ah, yeah,' Uncle Regulus said 'Well, I remember when you' he nodded towards Padfoot 'came back from Hogwarts after your first year. I remember Mother's reaction. It was scary.'

'Yeah, it was,' the other man muttered.

'So two years later, when I sat under the Sorting Hat, I was _desperate_ to be sorted into Slytherin,' the first one continued 'You can imagine why.'

'Yeah, I guess,' Procyon agreed. He hardly remembered his grandmother when she was alive, but her portrait was enough. 'But I wouldn't have been,' he added fiercely. He might even had been right. After all he was the youngest of three children and a Gryffindor. Then again, his brother and sister had always been exactly what their parents wanted them to be. Well, until last year, when Orion had been forced to make his own decision, due to a nasty incident involving a Bludger and a curse.

'That's why I wasn't a Gryffindor in either world. Although I nearly became a Hufflepuff in this one. Because I was so loyal to my family… It's funny, really,' he said 'considering everything that happened later. How I joined the Death Eaters,' (Procyon shuddered) 'and how I betrayed them only a few months later.'

'I've always wondered why,' Padfoot said.

'I feel like it just… happened,' Uncle Regulus said uncertainly 'I only joined after Narcissa did,' he explained 'She was my favorite cousin. I wasn't quite sure I trusted Bella about it, but I thought if Cissy joined them it can't be that bad. And it would make Mother happy… So I did it. The Dark Mark hurts like hell,' It probably really did, if even a memory of a memory of it could make the man wince and press his right hand to his left forearm 'I suppose that is a sort of test of loyalty, too. To see if you can stand a little pain for your master and your cause. Then again, if you fail that test they probably kill you… And then Barty Crouch sort of followed me there. He really believed in the cause. All the others were impressed… Thought I had taught him to believe it. When I wasn't sure what I believed myself!

But it got me close to You-Know-Who's inner circle. Close enough to overhear some important conversations. And the more I heard the surer I was that my master was an evil bastard… And what they made me do…' he shuddered 'I don't know what I'd been expecting, but… not killing Muggles just because they're Muggles… Not _torturing_ them just because killing isn't cruel enough.

I couldn't just leave, though. I knew there was only one way out of where I was, and I kind of liked being alive. I hated living for a cause I didn't believe in, but I wasn't sure the _other_ cause was worth dying for. Especially if my death wouldn't really change anything anyway. It seemed rather pointless, really.

And then I overheard that conversation. _He_ was giving something to Lucius Malfoy. Telling him to keep it safe. It was really important for him. He said something about it making him immortal. I spent the next few weeks trying to figure out what it was. I read a lot of Dark Magic books. I listened at doors. I knew _He_ would kill me if he discovered me, but it didn't seem that important any more. After all if he _didn't_ discover me, I could find out his secrets. And I did. I wrote you a letter. I tried to drop a couple of hints, but of course I couldn't say anything directly… And then I went to that cave… I made Kreacher come with me in case I needed any help. I Oblivated him afterwards… I guess that didn't go too well…'

'Ah, so that's what messed up his mind so much,' Padfoot commented 'I thought it was from spending too much time with Mum…'

'Anyway, I took the Horcrux. I wanted to destroy it, but I didn't have time to work out how.'

'You know where it is?' Tonks asked him.

'I know where _I_ left it,' he corrected and continued his story 'Of course I knew I had to run for it,' he said 'I couldn't lie to _Him_, especially not about something _that_ big. But they still got me after a few days. They knew there was something wrong when I didn't show up after He called me. And when they found out where I was, they didn't bother to ask me _what_ was wrong.

It was Barty who came for me. My friend. The one I had got into this. And he didn't even have enough mercy to make it quick. But I'm quite sure he didn't know what I had done.'

The three of them just stood there in awkward silence, staring at him, unsure what to say. Padfoot was the first one to speak.

'I… I didn't know…' he said 'But I hoped,' he added after a moment.

'Does that count as _"something really big"_?' Uncle Regulus asked.

'Bigger than I expected,' Padfoot replied 'I'm proud of you, little brother.'

Procyon had no idea what it was about, but it must have been some kind of inside joke, because it made both men laugh.


End file.
